Hennepin County Social Workers and Paramedics Tackle Mental Health Crises through Partnership with Police: Success Leads to Extension of Program

Hennepin County social workers and North Memorial Health paramedics are now responding to mental health calls in the community through the Alternative Response Team project, which has been met with approval from police officials. Inspector Elliot Faust stated that getting the program up and running was a significant effort, but they are seeing positive outcomes from it. The data collected so far indicates that the program is making a real impact, with a decrease in mental health calls received by the police department for the first time in years.

The new model allows for healthcare and law enforcement officials to respond to these calls either with or instead of police officers. The partnership between these two groups was announced a year ago, and the program was initially set to end on December 31, 2024. However, due to its success, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners recently extended the timeline through the end of 2026.

Faust expressed enthusiasm about the extension and highlighted the decrease in mental health calls received by the police department for the first time in years. After a steady increase in mental health calls over the past five years, there was a drop from 1,291 calls in 2022 to 1,096 calls in 2023. While it is too early to establish a direct causal link, Faust acknowledged that there is definitely a correlation between the work of the Alternative Response Team and